Lord of The Mysterious Realms Chapter 673

Everyone had seen Hathaway's note saying she was safe, but that did little to quell their fears. Miss Mikhail tried her best to suppress thoughts of Hathaway's current predicament, but the worry had already completely submerged her.

Her pretty eyes fell once more upon the listlessly lounging cat. Chocolate glanced back at the human woman. The moment their gazes met, a fear that seemed to spring from the depths of her soul surged through the golden-haired girl. She immediately wrenched her head to the side, gasping for breath.

"Briny, what's wrong?"

Miss Lawrence was instantly aware of her strange behavior.

"No, it's nothing. I suppose I'm just on edge..."

Miss Mikhail had no intention of admitting she'd been frightened by a cat; she chalked it up to a side effect of her rattled nerves after just waking up.

Sighing, she leaned back against the soft pillows, letting her long, golden hair spill out behind her.

"Gods, what is wrong with this trip? What other terrible things are we going to face?"

"Briny, don't be so pessimistic. As long as Mr. Williams is here, everything will be fine."

"You trust Jenkins that much?"

Miss Mikhail asked, her eyes fixed on the other woman.

Miss Lawrence nodded.

Their gazes shifted back to the cat Jenkins had left behind, and they were struck by the realization that no matter how dependable the man was, he wasn't here now. A chill crept up their spines at the thought. Miss Lawrence immediately stood up, drew all the curtains shut, and completely blocked out the view of the dark, raging blizzard.

Chocolate let out a lazy, kittenish cry that broke the strange tension in the room. Miss Lawrence sat back down on the chair by the bed, subconsciously inching closer to where Chocolate was curled up.

The group that had gone to the basement had not returned by eleven o'clock. The two women in the room dared not sleep alone until they saw Jenkins again. During that time, a maid—who had regained her freedom to move about—brought them some supper. The warm food was effective at dispelling their nervous tension.

It was clear the manor's servants were also on edge. The maid told Miss Lawrence that everyone was currently gathered in the first-floor dining room, waiting for news. It had been a long time since any sound had come from the basement, but Jenkins had ordered them not to approach it, so no one knew what the group was doing down there.

The grandfather clock on the wall ticked away, and the time soon reached half-past eleven. Chocolate had closed its eyes long ago, its steady breathing indicating it was sound asleep.

Miss Mikhail envied the cat's peaceful state. She, too, wanted to close her eyes and sleep until morning, but for her, that was an impossible wish.

"When on earth is Jenkins coming back? The basement isn't that big, is it?"

She wondered. Just as the thought was about to become spoken words, she saw the look of sheer terror on Miss Lawrence's face.

The woman in the chair was pointing a trembling finger at the door. It took Miss Mikhail a few seconds to understand, but then she saw it too: a shadow in the crack beneath the door, a clear sign that someone was standing right outside.

It couldn't possibly be a servant; they would have no reason to stand there for so long without knocking. In this manor, temporarily cut off from the world, the only person who would do such a thing was the murderer.

The two young women exchanged a look, and both saw the same panic reflected in each other's eyes.

Of course, the door wasn't locked, which meant the person outside could push it open at any moment. In a flash of panic, Miss Lawrence snatched the fruit knife from the nightstand—the only thing they had to defend themselves.

Miss Mikhail gestured toward the wardrobe in the corner, and Miss Lawrence understood immediately. Huddling together, they kept their eyes glued to the door as they carefully shuffled in that direction. Halfway there, Miss Mikhail remembered Chocolate was still on the bed. Biting her lip, she rushed back to scoop up the cat, but Chocolate's eyes snapped open. It dodged her hands and, faster than either of them, darted into the slightly ajar wardrobe.

Soon, all three living beings in the room were hidden inside the wardrobe. Miss Mikhail and Miss Lawrence huddled together in a corner, letting the hanging clothes conceal them. After half a minute of ragged breathing, they heard a soft creak as the bedroom door was pushed open, followed by the sound of heavy footsteps entering the room.

Both began to tremble, unable to stop imagining what would happen if they were discovered. They worried the cat beside them would suddenly meow and give them away, but Chocolate was even more well-behaved than they could have hoped. Googlᴇ search novel·fire.net

The cat's eyes seemed to glow in the darkness, its bright gaze fixed on the two women who were frozen in absolute terror. Perhaps encouraged by the cat's bravery, or maybe it was the fruit knife in her hand that gave her courage, but Miss Lawrence mustered her strength, leaned forward, and put her eye to the crack in the wardrobe door to see outside.

She had to know who had entered the room.

The only light in the room came from candles and an oil lamp, leaving the space shrouded in deep shadows. In the dim light, Miss Lawrence saw a towering figure—over seven feet tall—checking behind the curtains.

From her position, she could only see its back, which was nothing more than a black silhouette against the faint light. But a new question immediately surfaced—

"Is there anyone in this manor that tall?"

As she wondered, the figure turned and stepped into a patch of light with heavy footfalls. The pupil of the eye peering through the crack in the door instantly constricted in terror, and her eyelashes flew up to an astonishing degree as her eyes widened.

The visitor's face was covered in a dense cluster of blisters, and where its eyes should have been were two narrow slits. Its skin was a sickly grayish-green, and its hands ended in sharp claws. It had no hair, but it was dressed in the uniform of one of the manor's male servants. Miss Lawrence didn't know what this thing was, but it certainly wasn't human.

She clamped a hand over her mouth to stifle a scream, tears streaming from her eyes as she shrank back into the corner, pressing herself against Miss Mikhail. She couldn't look at that monster again. If they were found, they would surely be torn to pieces.

Miss Mikhail had no idea what her companion had seen, but the other woman's overwhelming terror was deeply infectious. She knew there had to be something extremely dangerous outside. She could even feel an intensely cold draft blowing in through the crack in the wardrobe door.

If Jenkins had been there, he would have known this was no illusion. The ghoul species possessed a natural talent: [Ominous Wind (Red Martial)].